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- Samyutta Nikaya LI.20
- Iddhipada-vibhanga Sutta
- Analysis of the Bases of Power
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
"These four bases
of power, when developed & pursued, are
of great fruit & great benefit. And how are the four bases of power developed &
pursued so as to be of great fruit & great benefit?
"There is the case where a monk develops the base of power endowed with
concentration founded on desire & the fabrications of exertion, thinking, 'This desire
of mine will be neither overly sluggish nor overly active, neither inwardly restricted nor
outwardly scattered.' He keeps perceiving what is in front & behind so that what is in
front is the same as what is behind, what is behind is the same as what is in front. What
is below is the same as what is above, what is above is the same as what is below. Night
is the same as day, day is the same as night. By means of an awareness thus open &
unhampered, he develops a brightened mind.
"He develops the base of power endowed with concentration founded on
persistence...
"He develops the base of power endowed with concentration founded on intent...
"He develops the base of power endowed with concentration founded on
discrimination & the fabrications of exertion, thinking, 'This discrimination of mine
will be neither overly sluggish nor overly active, neither inwardly restricted nor
outwardly scattered.' He keeps perceiving what is in front & behind so that what is in
front is the same as what is behind, what is behind is the same as what is in front. What
is below is the same as what is above, what is above is the same as what is below. [He
dwells] by night as by day, and by day as by night. By means of an awareness thus open
& unhampered, he develops a brightened mind.
"And how is desire overly sluggish? Whatever desire is accompanied by laziness,
conjoined with laziness, that is called overly sluggish desire.
"And how is desire overly active? Whatever desire is accompanied by restlessness,
conjoined with restlessness, that is called overly active desire.
"And how is desire inwardly restricted? Whatever desire is accompanied by sloth
& drowsiness, conjoined with sloth & drowsiness, that is called inwardly
restricted desire.
"And how is desire outwardly scattered? Whatever desire is stirred up by the five
strands of sensuality, outwardly dispersed & dissipated, that is called outwardly
scattered desire.
"And how does a monk dwell perceiving what is in front & behind so that what
is in front is the same as what is behind, and what is behind is the same as what is in
front? There is the case where a monk's perception of what is in front & behind is
well in hand, well-attended to, well-considered, well-tuned ('penetrated') by means of
discernment. This is how a monk keeps perceiving what is in front and behind so that what
is in front is the same as what is behind, and what is behind is the same as what is in
front.
"And how does a monk dwell so that what is below is the same as what is above, and
what is above is the same as what is below? There is the case where a monk reflects on
this very body, from the soles of the feet on up, from the crown of the head on down,
surrounded by skin, & full of various kinds of unclean things: 'In this body there are
head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, tendons, bones, bone marrow, kidneys,
heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, gorge, feces,
bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, skin-oil, saliva, mucus, fluid in the joints,
urine.' This is how a monk dwells so that what is below is the same as what is above, and
what is above is the same as what is below.
"And how does a monk dwell by night as by day, and by day as by night? There is
the case where a monk at night develops the base of power endowed with concentration
founded on desire & the fabrications of exertion by means of the same modes
(permutations) & signs & themes that he uses by day, and by day he develops the
base of power endowed with concentration founded on desire & the fabrications of
exertion by means of the same modes & signs & themes that he uses by night. This
is how a monk dwells by night as by day, and by day as by night.
"And how does a monk -- by means of an awareness open & unhampered -- develop
a brightened mind? There is the case where a monk has the perception of light, the
perception of daytime [at any hour of the day] well in hand & well-established. This
is how a monk -- by means of an awareness open & unhampered -- develops a brightened
mind.
(The above discussion is then repeated for persistence, intent, & discrimination.)
"When a monk has thus developed & pursued the four bases of power, he
experiences manifold supranormal powers. Having been one he becomes many; having been many
he becomes one. He appears. He vanishes. He goes unimpeded through walls, ramparts, &
mountains as if through space. He dives in & out of the earth as if it were water. He
walks on water without sinking as if it were dry land. Sitting crosslegged he flies
through the air like a winged bird. With his hand he touches & strokes even the sun
& moon, so mighty & powerful. He exercises influence with his body even as far as
the Brahma worlds.
"He hears -- by means of the divine ear-element, purified & surpassing the
human -- both kinds of sounds: divine & human, whether near or far.
"He knows the awareness of other beings, other individuals, having encompassed it
with his own awareness. He discerns a mind with passion as a mind with passion, and a mind
without passion as a mind without passion. He discerns a mind with aversion as a mind with
aversion, and a mind without aversion as a mind without aversion. He discerns a mind with
delusion as a mind with delusion, and a mind without delusion as a mind without delusion.
He discerns a restricted mind as a restricted mind, and a scattered mind as a scattered
mind. He discerns an enlarged mind as an enlarged mind, and an unenlarged mind as an
unenlarged mind. He discerns an excelled mind [one that is not at the most excellent
level] as an excelled mind, and an unexcelled mind as an unexcelled mind. He discerns a
concentrated mind as a concentrated mind, and an unconcentrated mind as an unconcentrated
mind. He discerns a released mind as a released mind, and an unreleased mind as an
unreleased mind.
"He recollects his manifold past lives (lit: previous homes), i.e., one birth, two
births, three births, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, one hundred, one
thousand, one hundred thousand, many aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons of cosmic
expansion, many aeons of cosmic contraction & expansion, [recollecting], 'There I had
such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my
experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state,
I re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an
appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of
my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.' Thus he remembers his manifold
past lives in their modes & details.
"He sees -- by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human --
beings passing away and re-appearing, and he discerns how they are inferior &
superior, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in accordance with their
kamma: 'These beings -- who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech, & mind, who
reviled the noble ones, held wrong views and undertook actions under the influence of
wrong views -- with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the plane
of deprivation, the bad destination, the lower realms, in hell. But these beings -- who
were endowed with good conduct of body, speech, & mind, who did not revile the noble
ones, who held right views and undertook actions under the influence of right views --
with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the good destinations, in
the heavenly world.' Thus -- by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the
human -- he sees beings passing away and re-appearing, and he discerns how they are
inferior & superior, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in accordance
with their kamma.
"Through the ending of the mental effluents, he remains in the effluent-free
release of awareness & release of discernment, having known & made them manifest
for himself right in the here & now.
"This is how these four bases of power, when developed & pursued, are of great
fruit & great benefit."